International Medical Folklore Calendar

Centenary edition of the Burroughs Wellcome & Co. desk/hanging calendar, with images of Sir Henry Wellcome on the cover and illlustrated with tales of folklore inside. This is the first of two centenary edition calendars entitled 'International Medical Folklore Calendar'. As they differ in content and focus both have been included in this series - please see WF/M/PB/31/18 for details on the second calendar.

This edition differs from its predecessors as it counters each tale of medical folklore with present day medical solutions to the ailments listed. This emphasises the aim of the company as it strived to unite the best elements of past and present ages in medicine, combining the ideal of an earlier age, with the commitment to fundamental research and technology of the present day.

In this manner, each tale is followed by a modern update on research and developments in that particular area, leading to present day cures developed by Wellcome.

For example, one of the folklore tales explores how the Delaware and Iroquois Indians used a crude extract of foxglove leaves to treat congestive heart failure. The active ingredient of this potent therapy, digoxin, was discovered and purified through Wellcome research, enabling its safer and more effective use. Another of the tales taken from John Wesley's Primitive Physic, (1791), advises that areas affected by allergy-itch should be washed in strong rum. Over 120 years after this, Sir Henry Dale (while working as Director of Research for Wellcome) discovered and investigated histamine, providing a more rational approach to the treatment of the same problem.

1980

1 item

Copyright assigned to the Wellcome Trust